Elder-Friendly Stores

Thank you all for your lovely comments on yesterday’s post about Time Goes By’s poor reputation rating. It surely was not meant as a fishing expedition and I was surprised. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy. You’re all just wonderful.

Aside from that, I thought I was playing blog hooky yesterday, but I did get to the grocery store and, as on every visit, was annoyed at the miserable lighting.

It’s already bad enough that the nutritional information is printed so small you need a magnifying glass even if the lights were bright enough. But all three of the closest supermarkets are so dimly lit that it’s hard to tell they’re not nightclubs. I’m thinking of bringing a flashlight from now on.

That reminded me of a video I saw a long time ago about a German supermarket chain that, anticipating the burgeoning elder population, redesigned its stores with elders in mind. I tracked it down at YouTube and it’s filled with good ideas. Take a look – it’s from 2007:

As noted in the video, the redesign has paid off for the chain in the bottom line but I’d throw in that they are wrong about their new emphasis being more for elders than young people. All elder-friendly design is invariably useful for younger adults too.

According to an NPR story last week, a few retail outlets in the U.S. have adopted some ideas similar to those of the German grocery and it identified some additional issues that need addressing for elders such as slippery floors, heavy doors that can’t be opened and blasting music.

Another useful idea are motorized carts. I’ve seen them in California and Maine, but so far not in my area here in Oregon. These are all good ideas, and maybe you’ve got some more.

It was disappointing to read at the end of the NPR story that the elder “expert” they interviewed said she would never use newly introduced senior discount cards:

“Well, I’m 55 years old,” [said Georganne Bender], “and there’s no way that I’m a senior and I’m the kind of person that, I don’t even want your discount if I have to have the senior citizen card.”

Bah! She calls herself a “retail consultant,” is apparently advising on elder store issues and makes an ageist statement like that? Shame on her and shame on NPR for promoting such an attitude.